CN112567858B

CN112567858B - Shared resource configuration for bandwidth portions

Info

Publication number: CN112567858B
Application number: CN201880096599.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 马藤·埃里克森; 詹·克里斯托弗里森; 王民
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Current assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Priority date: 2018-08-16
Filing date: 2018-08-16
Publication date: 2024-04-23
Anticipated expiration: 2038-08-16
Also published as: EP3837910A1; US20210314987A1; EP3837910B1; US11895645B2; WO2020035718A1; CN112567858A

Abstract

Systems, methods, and apparatuses for user equipment and/or network nodes are disclosed. An example method performed by a network node includes providing shared resources to a plurality of User Equipments (UEs) active on a bandwidth portion (BWP). The network node receives a Scheduling Request (SR) on a shared resource of the BWP and, in response to the SR, allocates one or more grants to one or more UEs of the plurality of UEs that are provided with the shared resource. The network node monitors another resource within a time window after allocation of the one or more grants and provides dedicated resources on BWP to the UE after receiving a transmission on the monitored resource from the UE.

Description

Shared resource configuration for bandwidth portions

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to wireless communication systems, such as cellular networks, and more particularly to a method, user equipment and network node for configuring resources in a radio access network.

Background

The 5G standard of evolved NR (new radio) is intended to operate over a wide frequency range from below 1GHz up to 100 GHz. For NR, a discussion relating to the third generation partnership project (3 GPP) is underway regarding bandwidth parts (BWP). As discussed, each BWP is a subset of the total cell bandwidth and may include a contiguous group of Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs). BWP provides a number of advantages to user equipment, including that some user equipment may not be able to access the entire bandwidth provided in the cell, and thus benefit by accessing a smaller portion of that bandwidth via BWP. In addition, BWP reduces user equipment power requirements and provides battery savings.

According to 3GPP discussions, each user equipment may be assigned an initial BWP configured via a System Information (SI) message. Other dedicated BWP may also be configured for the user equipment via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. Each user equipment may have at most four Downlink (DL) and Uplink (UL) BWP, where only one BWP is active at a time for a particular user equipment. The handover between BWPs is performed using Downlink Control Information (DCI) provided on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). In NR, there may be a large number of Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resources configured for user equipment on BWP. For example, if the user equipment is configured with 8 Scheduling Request (SR) configurations, up to eight PUCCH-SR resources may be configured for the user equipment on BWP.

In addition to the above PUCCH resources, random Access Channel (RACH) resources may be allocated to BWP. The article by CATT entitled "THE VALIDITY of CFRA resources for BFR" (3 GPP draft, R2-1804484) discusses contention-free RACH (CFRA) resources and finds that reserving such resources for user equipment has drawbacks, including: inefficient RACH resource utilization; when the RACH load in the network is medium to high, the RACH collision probability for other user equipment is high; and CFRA-BFR can only be used for a small number of user equipments due to the reservation of a large number of resources. This article discusses a method of improving resource utilization, including providing timer-based CFRA resources, CFRA resource suspension mechanisms, and other UEs reusing suspended CFRA resources.

Disclosure of Invention

Examples disclosed in this disclosure provide techniques for more efficiently managing resource overhead and/or reducing latency by providing shared resources on BWP. Although the techniques described herein are generally described in the context of PUCCH resources for purposes of illustration, such techniques may also be applied to other types of control resources, including PDCCH resources and/or RACH resources, as well as other types of resources.

In an example, a method performed by a network node includes providing shared PUCCH resources to a plurality of User Equipments (UEs) active on BWP. The network node receives the SR on the shared PUCCH resource of BWP. In response to the SR, the network node allocates one or more grants to one or more UEs of the plurality of UEs that are provided with the shared PUCCH. The network node monitors PUSCH resources within a time window after allocation of the one or more grants, and after receiving PUSCH transmissions on the monitored PUSCH resources from a UE of the plurality of UEs, the network node provides dedicated PUCCH resources on BWP to the UE.

In another example, a method performed by a user equipment includes: an allocation of shared PUCCH resources on BWP is received from a network node, wherein the shared PUCCH resources are shared among a plurality of UEs. The user equipment provides an SR on the shared PUCCH resource of the BWP and receives a grant corresponding to the SR. The user equipment uses the grant to provide PUSCH transmissions on the monitored PUSCH resources and, after providing PUSCH transmissions, receives a configuration corresponding to dedicated PUCCH resources on BWP.

In other examples, a system comprising user equipment and/or a network node performing the above method is provided. Furthermore, the present disclosure provides a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a processing circuit, cause the processing circuit to perform the above-described method.

Drawings

For a more complete understanding of the disclosed embodiments, and features and advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating PUCCH overhead versus the number of active user devices configured with PUCCH resources in BWP according to some examples.

Fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a system including a network node and a user equipment according to some examples.

Fig. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method performed by a network node for configuring shared resources corresponding to BWP according to some examples.

Fig. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method performed by a user equipment for configuring shared resources corresponding to BWP according to some examples.

Fig. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating signaling for activating dedicated resources for user equipment previously allocated shared resources, according to some examples.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram illustrating partitioning of shared resources among multiple UEs according to some examples.

Fig. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating signaling for activating shared resources for user equipment previously allocated dedicated resources, according to some examples.

Fig. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method for configuring shared or dedicated resources based on BWP resource loading according to some examples.

Detailed Description

As described above, the user equipment may be configured with up to four BWP, each having up to eight PUCCH-SR resources. This means that a relatively large amount of total available UL resources are used for PUCCH resources. The resources of these configurations reduce the amount of space available for PUSCH transmissions on BWP. Furthermore, although the user equipment may have BWP of up to four configurations, it can only keep one BWP active. This means that 75% of the configured PUCCH resources are reserved, not for data transmission. Therefore, reserving PUCCH on all BWP results in low PUCCH resource utilization and reduced PUSCH capacity.

Conventional techniques of configuring PUCCH resources on each BWP for each user equipment consume excessive resources. Furthermore, this technique may cause failures in NR networks under medium to high load. In more detail, fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating PUCCH overhead with respect to the number of active user equipments configured with PUCCH resources in BWP. Line 102 represents PUCCH overhead (without multiplexing) for BWP versus the number of active user equipments in 10MHz BWP. In this example, each user equipment has three Logical Channels (LCHs), e.g., a Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) and two Data Radio Bearers (DRBs). Thus, each user equipment will have three PUCCHs. As shown in this example, PUCCH overhead increases to approximately 20% for 50 active users.

To mitigate the underutilization problem, active BWP may not be allocated PUCCH or RACH resources. However, without configuring PUCCH resources on active BWP, other Uplink Control Information (UCI) such as hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback, channel State Information (CSI) for DL transmission, etc. is transmitted on a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) in active BWP, which competes for resources with traffic with critical quality of service (QoS) requirements, e.g., ultra-reliable low latency cellular (URLLC) network traffic. This can also lead to negative impact on transmission reliability and QoS requirements. Furthermore, if the user equipment is moved to BWP without configured PUCCH resources, the user equipment will not be able to transmit PUCCH-SR in the BWP and instead use RACH channel for SR, i.e. RA-SR. However, the user equipment receiving the grant via the RACH procedure takes longer than the user equipment receiving the grant via the PUCCH-SR, especially if there is a RACH collision with transmissions from other UEs. Such delays caused by conventional techniques can be long and can result in unacceptable impact on services with critical latency requirements.

The present disclosure provides techniques for more efficiently configuring resources (e.g., control resources including PUCCH, PDCCH, and/or RACH resources). These techniques address technical issues such as those detailed above to more efficiently manage resource overhead and/or reduce latency. These techniques include systems, methods, and apparatuses for sharing resources among multiple user devices active on the same BWP.

In some examples, the resource sharing techniques include providing a shared PUCCH resource on a BWP, the shared PUCCH resource being usable by any user equipment that switches to the BWP and has no dedicated PUCCH configuration on the BWP. If two or more user equipments are switched to the BWP, the user equipments are initially configured with the same shared PUCCH. Because the network node may not be able to identify the sender user equipment of the SR request, when the network node receives the SR request on the shared PUCCH, it may provide permission to all user equipments sharing the PUCCH. The shared PUCCH can only be used for a limited time, after which the user equipment is configured with dedicated PUCCH resources on BWP via RRC signaling.

In other examples, a user equipment switching to BWP without dedicated PUCCH may share PUCCH resources of another user equipment active in BWP by dividing the shared PUCCH resources in time or frequency. In more detail, the user equipment is configured with the same shared PUCCH resource on different BWPs. When user equipment is active on different BWP, each user equipment may use the entire shared PUCCH resource on its active BWP. When a user equipment is handed over to BWP where another user equipment is active, layer 1 (L1) signaling instructs the user equipment to share PUCCH resources. Because the network node can identify which user equipment is using PUCCH, it can provide a grant in response to transmitting the SR of the UE without sending a grant to other UEs. In this example, RRC signaling may similarly be used to configure dedicated PUCCH resources

The above described technique allows the network to configure a reduced number of PUCCH resources for BWP, which is particularly advantageous in case of configuring multiple BWP per UE. Meanwhile, RRC signaling for configuring PUCCH resources may be reduced, and thus delay caused by such signaling when a user equipment is moved to BWP without dedicated PUCCH resources may be reduced. Accordingly, the present disclosure provides the following advantages, including: enhanced resource utilization for PUCCH; the need for reconfiguration is reduced by adding PUCCH to active BWP and thus reducing transmission delay and RRC signaling overhead; and/or fast signaling for sharing PUCCH in active BWP (before RRC reconfiguration can be completed). Certain embodiments may have none, some, or all of the recited advantages, and other technical advantages may be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

Fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a system comprising a network node 202 and a user equipment 204. In some examples, network node 202 and/or user equipment 204 perform methods and signaling as described in more detail with respect to fig. 3-8.

In this example, the network node 202 includes a base station, e.g., an evolved node B (eNB), a next generation node B (gNB), and/or a network gateway node or other network device. In this example, network node 202 is communicatively coupled to user equipment 204 via any combination of wired and/or wireless technologies (e.g., via radio signals). Signaling that may be performed via communicative coupling is described in further detail with respect to fig. 5 and 7. Network node 202 may be provided by one or more computing devices and may be communicatively coupled to one or more other network nodes or backend computing devices, such as a core network node, via radio access network 208.

In this example, network node 202 is configured with a transceiver 210, which transceiver 210 has a transmitter and a receiver that provide uplink and downlink radio communications with wireless devices, such as user equipment 204. The network node 202 is structured with a network interface 216, which network interface 216 provides communication with other nodes of the network (e.g., with other base stations and/or core network nodes). The network node 202 is constructed with a processor 212, which processor 212 may include processing circuitry with one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs), which processor 212 is coupled to a transceiver 210 and a network interface 216. Network node 202 is structured with memory 214 coupled to processor 212. Memory 214 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-readable program code that, when executed by the processor, causes processor 212 to perform operations in accordance with embodiments disclosed herein, such as the operations described in more detail with respect to fig. 3-8.

In this example, the user device 204 includes a user device, such as a mobile/smart phone, laptop computer, personal computer, smart television, or other wired/wireless communication device. The user equipment 204 includes a communication interface 218 (e.g., a modem), which communication interface 218 communicatively couples the user equipment 204 to the network node 202 via wired and/or wireless technology and provides UL and DL radio communications with the network node 202 and/or other network nodes in the RAN 208. The user device 204 is configured with a processor 220, which processor 220 may include processing circuitry having one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs), which processor 220 is coupled to the communication interface 218. The user device 204 is structured with a memory 222 coupled to the processor 220. The memory 222 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-readable program code that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor 220 to perform operations in accordance with embodiments disclosed herein, such as the operations described in more detail with respect to fig. 3-8. In this example, the user device 204 is also configured with a user interface 224, such as a display, keyboard, mouse, touch screen, microphone, speaker, and/or other user input/output (I/O) devices.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method performed by a network node for configuring shared resources corresponding to BWP. In some examples, the method is performed by network node 202 in the system described in more detail with respect to fig. 2. In some examples, the method is performed in combination with one or more of the methods and/or signaling described with respect to any of fig. 4-8.

At step 302, a network node provides shared Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resources to a plurality of User Equipments (UEs) active on a bandwidth part (BWP). This may include the network configuring a set of one or more PUCCH resources shared by a group of UEs operating in connected mode. The network node may also provide an identifier to the UE defining the UE as having a shared relationship with the shared PUCCH resources. In this way, UEs in the same group may share PUCCH resources configured and associated with the group. In some examples, shared UEs in the same group use these shared PUCCH resources in a contention-based manner. The UE may maintain multiple sharing relationships with other shared PUCCH resources (e.g., shared PUCCH resources provided via other BWP).

In some examples, the BWP is a subset of the plurality of BWP occupying the total cell bandwidth, and each UE is allocated one or more BWP by the network node. In some examples, when the UE is handed over to BWP, the network node provides the shared PUCCH resource to the UE as an initial configuration. This may be, for example, when the UE switches from another BWP to the BWP, or when the UE switches to the BWP during initial connection to the network node. The network node may provide the shared PUCCH resources to the plurality of UEs using Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling and/or other signaling techniques.

In some examples, the shared PUCCH resource is partitioned in at least one of time or frequency between a UE of the plurality of UEs and at least one other UE. In some examples, the shared PUCCH resources are shared by the network node assigning each UE of the plurality of UEs a mask defining a portion of the shared PUCCH resources that each UE is allowed to access. The defined portion may be a frequency portion and/or a time portion of the shared PUCCH resource.

In some examples, the shared PUCCH resource is associated with a window defining a duration of access to the shared PUCCH resource that the UE is provided. The window may be a time window such that when a pre-configured threshold duration is reached, the network node switches the UE to another PUCCH resource.

At step 304, the network node receives a Scheduling Request (SR) from the UE on a shared PUCCH resource of BWP. In some examples, upon receiving a PUCCH transmission, the network node may not specifically identify the transmitting UE, but rather identify the group associated with the PUCCH resource. In some examples, the network node identifies the group based on an identifier included in the transmission.

At step 306, in response to the SR, the network node allocates one or more grants to one or more of the plurality of user equipments provided with the shared PUCCH. One or more grants may be allocated to a group of user equipments provided with access to the shared PUCCH. This may be performed by providing non-UE-specific grants via the shared PUCCH such that any UE accessing the shared PUCCH will receive the grant. In other examples, the grant for each UE may be associated with a different UE in the group of UEs sharing the shared PUCCH. In some examples, prior to assigning the grant, the network node determines that the SR is associated with a group associated with the shared PUCCH resource. Upon determining that the SR is associated with a group allocated to the shared PUCCH resource, the network node allocates a grant.

At step 308, after allocating the grant, the network node monitors Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resources for a time window.

At step 310, the network node, upon receiving a PUSCH transmission on the monitored PUSCH resources from a UE of the plurality of UEs, provides a dedicated PUCCH resource on BWP to the UE, wherein the dedicated PUCCH resource is not shared with other UEs of the plurality of UEs, but is reserved for data transmission by the UE. Upon receiving the PUSCH transmission, the network node may also identify a particular UE lacking a dedicated PUCCH configuration and accordingly determine to reconfigure the UE with the dedicated PUCCH configuration on the active BWP of the UE.

In some examples, when the UE is provided with dedicated PUCCH resources, the network node removes the UE's access to the shared PUCCH resources. The network node may remove access to the shared PUCCH resource when providing access to the dedicated PUCCH resource or shortly thereafter. In some examples, after switching the UE to the dedicated resource, the shared PUCCH resource is provided as the dedicated PUCCH resource to the second UE, where the second UE previously shared the shared PUCCH resource with another UE.

In some examples, the allocation of dedicated PUCCH resources to the UE is performed in response to the network node determining that the PUCCH load corresponding to BWP is at or below a threshold PUCCH load. Thus, based on the determination, the network node allocates one or more of the plurality of UEs to the dedicated PUCCH resource.

In some examples, after the UE is allocated to the dedicated PUCCH resource, the network node determines that the PUCCH load corresponding to BWP is at or above the threshold PUCCH load. Based on the determination, the network node identifies one or more UEs of the plurality of UEs that are below a threshold activity level. Based on the identification, the network node allocates the one or more UEs of the plurality of UEs to the shared PUCCH resource. Thus, the UE may access the shared PUCCH resource, but not every UE may access the dedicated PUCCH resource.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method performed by a user equipment for configuring shared resources corresponding to BWP. In some examples, the method is performed by UE 204 in the system described in more detail with respect to fig. 2. In some examples, the method is performed in combination with one or more of the methods and/or signaling described with respect to any of fig. 3 and 5-8.

At step 402, the UE receives an allocation of shared Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resources on BWP from a network node. In some examples, the BWP is a subset of the plurality of BWP occupying the total cell bandwidth, and each UE is allocated one or more BWP by the network node. When the UE is switched to BWP by the network node, the UE may receive an allocation of its shared PUCCH resources as an initial configuration. In some examples, the UE switches from another BWP to a BWP provided via the network node, and in other examples, the UE is switched to the BWP when the UE initially accesses the network node. The UE may receive an allocation of its shared PUCCH resources from the network node using Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling and/or other signaling techniques.

In this example, the shared PUCCH resource is shared among multiple UEs. Each UE may transmit on a particular portion of the shared PUCCH, where the particular portion is defined using a mask. In some examples, the network node allocates a mask to each UE, wherein the mask indicates a particular time portion and/or frequency portion of the shared PUCCH that the UE is allocated for its data transmission. Thus, the shared PUCCH resource is partitioned in at least one of time and/or frequency between each UE of the plurality of UEs and at least one other UE by each UE using its assigned mask.

In some examples, the shared PUCCH resource is associated with a window that defines a duration that the UE may access the shared PUCCH resource before being handed over to another PUCCH resource (e.g., a dedicated PUCCH resource that is not shared with other UEs of the plurality of UEs).

At step 404, the UE provides a Scheduling Request (SR) to the network node on the shared PUCCH resource of BWP. In some examples, the SR includes an identifier that associates the SR with a group corresponding to the shared PUCCH resource. In some examples, each UE accessing the shared PUCCH resource is associated with the group.

At step 406, the UE receives a grant corresponding to the SR from the network node.

Using the grant, the UE provides a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission to the network node on the monitored PUSCH resource at step 408.

At step 410, after providing PUSCH transmission, the UE receives a configuration from the network node corresponding to dedicated PUCCH resources on BWP. After receiving the configuration corresponding to the dedicated PUCCH resource, the UE may then transmit further communications using the dedicated PUCCH resource instead of the shared PUCCH resource.

Fig. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating signaling for activating dedicated resources for a user equipment previously allocated shared resources. In some examples, this signaling is performed by network node 202 and user equipment 204 in the system described in more detail with respect to fig. 2. In some examples, the signaling corresponds to one or more of the methods described with respect to any of fig. 3,4, and 6-8.

The sequence includes the user equipment 502 and the user equipment 504 receiving signaling from the network node 506 corresponding to the group configuration 508 of the shared resource. In this example, the shared resource is a PUCCH resource. RRC signaling may be used to perform configuration, which may be maintained by the RRC or MAC layer. In this example, the user device knows that the shared resource is shared or can be shared between multiple user devices.

The network node 506 provides a handover command 510 to the user equipment 502 and the user equipment 504 to cause the user equipment to handover to the specified BWP. In some examples, new MAC CE or DCI based signaling is defined by a network node (e.g., network node 506) to move a user equipment (e.g., user equipment 502 or 504) from one resource (e.g., a first PUCCH resource) to another resource (e.g., a second PUCCH resource). Signaling carries information on one or more of the following fields:

1. index for old PUCCH resources/configurations;

2. Index for new PUCCH resources/configurations;

3. A service/LCH/SR configuration index associated with the new PUCCH resource, or an information type of UCI associated with the new PUCCH resource; and/or

4. A mask indicator that identifies which portions of the shared PUCCH resource are allowed to be used by the user equipment.

The sharing mechanism may be disabled by the network when the network node 706 determines that there are sufficient PUCCH resources to allocate the user equipment to dedicated resources that are not shared among multiple UEs. When the identified threshold is less than or equal to the pre-configured PUCCH resource threshold, a determination may be made by the network node 506 whether sufficient resources are present.

After receiving the data arrival 512, the user equipment 502 provides a scheduling request to the network node 506 indicating that the user equipment 502 has data to send. In response to the scheduling request 514, the network node 506 provides a grant 516 to the user equipment 502 and the user equipment 504 configured to be in a group of shared resources (e.g., shared PUCCH resources). Because the network node may not be able to identify the sender user equipment of the SR request, when the network node receives the SR request on the shared PUCCH, it may provide permission to all user equipments sharing the PUCCH.

Upon receiving the grant 516, the user equipment 502 provides data to the network node 506 via PUSCH transmission. The network node 506 then performs RRC signaling with the user equipment 502 that reconfigures dedicated resources (e.g., dedicated PUCCH resources) on the specified BWP for the user equipment 502.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram illustrating division of shared resources among multiple UEs. In this example, resources may be shared in the system described with respect to fig. 1 and/or using the techniques described with respect to any of fig. 3-5, fig. 7, and fig. 8.

As shown in fig. 6, the slot interval 602 provides a time portion during which data may be transmitted. The slot interval 602 may have a length of 0.5ms or another predefined length (which may be longer or shorter than the length of 0.5 ms). There are multiple BWP (initial BWP 604, BWP1 606, BWP2 608 and BWP3 610), each BWP providing a frequency part of the bandwidth that may be used by the UE for transmitting data during the slot interval 602, e.g. a contiguous group of Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs).

In this example, there is an initial configuration provided on initial BWP 604 where UE1612 and UE2 614 share the same PUCCH resource by transmitting data in different time and frequency parts of the resource. As indicated by the UE1+2 616 block, both the first UE (UE 1612) and the second UE (UE 2 614) share the same resource configuration in BWP2 608 and BWP3 610 so that both UE1612 and UE2 614 may transmit in the same time and frequency parts.

Each UE may share resources using an assigned mask or subset indicator. The mask or subset indicator defines which time and/or frequency portion of the shared PUCCH resource may be used by a particular UE when more than one shared UE is active in the same BWP. When two UEs have the same active BWP, their respective masks indicate which part of the shared PUCCH each UE may use when both UEs are active in the same BWP. In this example, in initial BWP, UE1 612 uses PUCCH resources in the lower frequency part at the end of slot interval 602, and UE2 614 uses PUCCH resources in the higher frequency part at the beginning of slot interval 602. The mask may be defined with the same periodicity (e.g., per slot) as the PUCCH configuration. If there are fewer PUCCH resources within the definition of the mask than the shared UE, the PUCCH resources may be time multiplexed over a longer period of time (even/odd slots, subframes, etc.).

When UE2 614 is handed over to the active BWP of UE1 612, the shared PUCCH resources may be activated for two or more shared UEs in the same BWP. The network node may perform the handover by indicating or activating the sharing in a DCI handover command to UE2 614 and providing a PDCCH command to UE1 612. These commands may be to activate an already configured mask (which may be configured by RRC in a BWP configuration) or the commands may include a mask index to be applied.

Fig. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating signaling for activating shared resources for user equipment to which dedicated resources have been previously allocated. In some examples, this signaling is performed by network node 202 and user equipment 204 in the system described in more detail with respect to fig. 2. In some examples, the signaling corresponds to one or more of the methods described with respect to any of fig. 3-6 and 8.

Initially, in the present example, the network node 706 provides the group configuration 708 to the user equipments 702 and 704 such that the user equipment 702 is active on the first BWP and the user equipment 704 is active on the second BWP, and both user equipments are allocated shared resources (e.g., PUCCH resources) on both the first BWP and the second BWP.

The network node 706 provides the sharing command 710 to the user equipment 702. In some examples, the sharing command 710 includes a PDCCH command on a first BWP to the user equipment 702 to use a first portion of PUCCH resources, as indicated by a first mask allocated to the user equipment 702.

The network node 706 provides a handover command 712 to the user equipment 704. In some examples, the handover command 712 includes a DCI over a second BWP to the user device 704 that indicates that the user device 704 uses a second portion of PUCCH resources, as indicated by a second mask allocated to the user device 704. In some examples, new MAC CE or DCI based signaling is defined by a network node (e.g., network node 706) to move a user equipment (e.g., user equipment 702 or 704) from one resource (e.g., a first PUCCH resource) to another resource (e.g., a second PUCCH resource). Signaling carries information on one or more of the following fields:

1. index for old PUCCH resources/configurations;

2. Index for new PUCCH resources/configurations;

In some examples, the network may enable the sharing mechanism when the network node determines that there is a risk of PUCCH resource shortage. The risk of resource shortage may be determined by the network node 706 when the identified threshold is higher than or equal to a pre-configured PUCCH resource threshold.

Thus, user equipment 702 and user equipment 704 share the same PUCCH resource on the first BWP. Thus, once the user equipment 702 has data to send to 714, the user equipment 702 provides a scheduling request 716 to the network node 706. The network node responds by providing a grant 718 to the user equipment 702 via the shared resource, and the user equipment 702 uses the grant for PUSCH transmission 718. Because the network node can identify which user equipment is using PUCCH, the network node can provide the grant to the UE that sent the SR without also sending the grant to other UEs.

If the shared PUCCH resources are insufficient for transmission of data, RRC reconfiguration of the PUCCH resources may be applied via RRC signaling 720. This RRC signaling 720 may be performed to reconfigure the new PUCCH on BWP1 for user equipment 704 and/or by reconfiguring user equipment 702 to use all shared PUCCHs on BWP 1.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for configuring shared or dedicated resources based on BWP resource loads. In some examples, this signaling is performed by network node 202 and user equipment 204 in the system described in more detail with respect to fig. 2. In some examples, the method is performed in combination with one or more of the methods and/or signaling described with respect to any of fig. 3-7.

At step 802, the network node configures shared resources (e.g., PUCCH, PDCCH, or RACH resources) for BWP. At step 804, the network determines that the UE is being switched to BWP. At step 806, the network node allocates the UE to a shared resource with one or more other UEs active in BWP. At step 806, if the network node determines that there is a high load in BWP with respect to the shared resource, e.g. when the load meets or exceeds a pre-configured threshold, the network node finds a UE with low activity at step 810 and configures the UE with low activity to share the resource at step 812. Otherwise, at step 814, if the network node determines that the resource load is at or below a pre-configured threshold, the network node configures one or more of the UEs using dedicated resources (e.g., dedicated PUCCH, PDCCH, or RACH resources).

Certain aspects of the inventive concept have been described above primarily with reference to certain embodiments. However, those skilled in the art readily understand: other embodiments than the ones disclosed above are equally possible and are within the scope of the inventive concept. Similarly, while many different combinations have been discussed, all possible combinations have not been disclosed. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other combinations exist within the scope of the inventive concepts. Furthermore, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art: the embodiments disclosed herein are equally applicable to other standards and communication systems, and any feature from a particular figure disclosed in connection with other features may be applicable to any other figure and/or may be combined with different features.

Claims

1. A method performed by a network node in a radio access network, RAN, the method comprising:

Providing shared physical uplink control channel, PUCCH, resources to a plurality of user equipments, UEs, active on a bandwidth portion, BWP;

Receiving a scheduling request, SR, on the shared PUCCH resource of the BWP;

In response to the SR, allocating one or more grants to one or more UEs of the plurality of UEs that are provided with the shared PUCCH resource;

monitoring physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, resources within a time window after allocation of the one or more grants; and

After receiving a transmission on the monitored PUSCH resources from a UE of the plurality of UEs, dedicated PUCCH resources on the BWP are provided to the UE.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

Before allocating the one or more grants, determining that the SR is associated with a group associated with the shared PUCCH resource.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

Access to the shared PUCCH resource is removed from the UE provided with the dedicated PUCCH resource.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

A mask is allocated for each UE of the plurality of UEs, the mask defining a portion of the shared PUCCH resources.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the defined portion of the shared PUCCH resource comprises a frequency portion.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a PUCCH load corresponding to the BWP is at or below a threshold PUCCH load; and

Based on the determination, one or more UEs of the plurality of UEs are allocated to dedicated PUCCH resources.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

providing a second UE of the plurality of UEs with dedicated access to the shared PUCCH resource.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a PUCCH load corresponding to the BWP is at or above a threshold PUCCH load;

identifying one or more UEs of the plurality of UEs below a threshold activity level; and

Based on the identification, the one or more UEs of the plurality of UEs are allocated to the shared PUCCH resource.

9. The method of any of claims 1-8, wherein the shared PUCCH resource is partitioned in at least one of time or frequency between the UE of the plurality of UEs and at least one other UE.

10. The method of any of claims 1-8, wherein the BWP is a subset of a plurality of BWP allocated to the plurality of UEs.

11. The method of any of claims 1-8, wherein the shared PUCCH resource is provided to the UE as an initial configuration when the UE is handed over to the BWP.

12. The method of any of claims 1-8, wherein the shared PUCCH resource is associated with a window defining a duration for which the UE can access the shared PUCCH resource.

13. The method of any of claims 1-8, wherein the providing of the shared PUCCH resource is performed via radio resource control, RRC, signaling.

14. The method of any of claims 1-8, wherein the grant is allocated to each of the plurality of UEs provided with the shared PUCCH resource.

15. A method performed by a user equipment, UE, comprising:

Receiving an allocation of shared physical uplink control channel, PUCCH, resources on a bandwidth portion, BWP, from a network node, wherein the shared PUCCH resources are shared between a plurality of UEs;

Providing a scheduling request, SR, on the shared PUCCH resource of the BWP;

Receiving a grant corresponding to the SR;

providing a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, transmission on the monitored PUSCH resource using the grant; and

After providing the PUSCH transmission, a configuration corresponding to a dedicated PUCCH resource on the BWP is received.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the SR is associated with a group corresponding to the shared PUCCH resource.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

After receiving a configuration corresponding to the dedicated PUCCH resource, further communications are transmitted using the dedicated PUCCH resource.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

transmitted on the defined portion of the shared PUCCH resource according to a mask.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the defined portion of the shared PUCCH resource comprises a frequency portion.

20. The method of any of claims 15-19, wherein the shared PUCCH resource is partitioned in at least one of time or frequency between the UE of the plurality of UEs and at least one other UE.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the BWP is a subset of a plurality of BWPs available for allocation to a plurality of UEs.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein the UE receives an allocation of the shared PUCCH resource as an initial configuration when the UE is switched to the BWP.

23. The method of any of claims 15-19 and 21-22, wherein the shared PUCCH resource is associated with a window defining a duration for which the UE can access the shared PUCCH resource.

24. The method of claim 15, wherein the configuration of the shared PUCCH resources is received via radio resource control, RRC, signaling.

25. A network node (202) in a radio access network, RAN, (208), the network node (202) comprising processing circuitry (212) configured to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 14.

26. A user equipment, UE, (204) comprising processing circuitry (220), the processing circuitry (220) being configured to perform the method of any of claims 15 to 24.

27. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions executable by a processing circuit to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 24.

28. A system for shared resource configuration of a bandwidth portion BWP, the system comprising:

Network node: and

A user equipment communicatively coupled to the network node, the user equipment configured to perform operations comprising:

Receiving an allocation of shared physical uplink control channel, PUCCH, resources on a bandwidth portion, BWP, from the network node, wherein the shared PUCCH resources are shared between a plurality of UEs;

Providing a scheduling request, SR, on the shared PUCCH resource of the BWP;

Receiving a grant corresponding to the SR;

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the network node comprises at least one processor coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable memory containing instructions executable by the at least one processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1-14.

30. The system of claim 28, wherein the user device comprises at least one processor coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable memory containing instructions executable by the at least one processor to perform the method of any one of claims 16-24.